"So what is the state of the Hurd? Is it vaporware, like Duke Nukem Forever? Fortunately not: the code exists, there is still work going on (for instance as part of Google Summer of Code), and there are even some relatively functional Hurd distributions. Let's look first at the code and the current architecture, and then at the Hurd distributions."

Stallman started the open source Unix operating system. It was done until 90%, and then a teenager with freckles came in and did the last 10% and got all the credit for all the many years of hard work from the GNU guys.

Who would not be slightly irritated? Every non computer guy thinks today Linus T wrote the entire Linux from scratch! I even met some computer guys thinking that too "Linus is super, who is this Stallman, why is he shouting? What has he to do with Linux? Ask Stallman to shut up".

I get very irritated when I see kids nowadays trashing Stallman because he actually has the temerity of believing in something. You may agree with him or not, but GNU is his baby and he has a track record to back up his stances. I may disagree with him, but my respect he has earned. Some people nowadays seem to consider anyone who actually stands for something as being a threat to their entitlement to apathy.

Most of these kids do not comprehend that all those GNU tools they take for granted, used to be not only very expensive... but rather exclusive tools. I remember how back in the late 90s eve, SGI for example would charge a pretty penny not just for the compilers for Irix, but just the libraries themselves, on top of the hefty licensing costs for the OS and the HW.

It is easy to trash the farmer once the salad has made it to one's table and is ready to be eaten.